Could't stand it, have to try one. Sent rifle off today. Now I need to know best place for dies and bullets. Pet loads if you have them, most interested in the 40gr Berger and 33gr Hornady. Thanks

Todd Kindler, Woodchuck Den, [330] 897-0614 and the editor of Small Caliber News. Todd is single-handedly responsible for bringing the .20 caliber back into vogue. He stocks dies for all the .20 wildcats as well as bullets and the like. He is an excellent source of information. You will definitely want to get some Hornady 33 grain VMAX [or the new 32 grainer], Berger 40 grain boat-tail and the new Hornady 40 grain VMAX when it is released. There are lots of other .20 cal bullet manufacturers out there too. I've heard good things about Russ Lucas bullets.

Jordan

Way to go, you'll love it! What rifle are you using as a platform, and who's doing the work? I got hold of Boo-Coo 33 grainers when I heard they were being replaced, after the 32's came out I got a couple boxes (from Midway) just to see how they compared, if there's a difference I can't find it in the shooting. The 32's .015 shorter but with the same load went to the same point of impact. Might be a little faster but it was too cold to set up the chrono. What twist and who's barrel? As to powders try N133, Benchmark, H4198 and Ramshots new Tac with the heavier bullets. If this is your first wildcat be sure to start low and work up slow. The pressure spike is way different on the hot sub calibers and things can happen real quick. Be sure and get both form dies and don't over form, you want a crush fit on fireforming. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the info. Barrel is 1 in 12 twist Pac-Nor. The action is Rem ADL. I just hope the twist is fast enought for 40's. Only powders I can get are Reloader,Hodgdon and IMR.

Mossback,
I am also being wooed by a 20 cal. The 204 Ruger and the Tac 20 are both interesting, I am leaning toward the Tac 20 as well. I have a mess of 223 win brass.I'll be very interested to see how you like the 20.

I'm also working on one, a R700 BDL, Shilen stainless barrel, Redfield scope. I haven't totally decided on the stock yet, but it will probably be the Hogue Overmolded stock with the full length bedding block. Finish is a KG Gunkote.

Regarding the dies I am making them myself, I almost have the reamers done so I am hoping to be shooting in February.

Looks to be a great little gun and chambering!

Here is another interesting link:

http://www.angelfire.com/sd/6mmackley/twentycaliber.html

Mossback:

12 twist will stabilize the Berger 40 grainer and it is highly likely that it will also stabilize the Hornady 40 grainer [when it is introduced]. Obviously, there is some conjecture here, but the odds are strongly in your favor. You might go to www.saubier.com and pose this question there for some real expert advise.

Jordan

Montdoug

How does the 20 Tact w/40 grain bullets compare to the 223 Ackley with 40 grain bullets out to 300 yards or so? Using H4198 and loading to max in each, will I see a difference?

I have the Ackley and I'm looking at the 204 as well.

Thanks for the help.

Snapper

Hey Snapper. As I haven't shot the 40 in my Tact.20 a great deal nor do I have an Ackley .223 this is pure speculation on my part, but here goes. Firstly the .204 Ruger should have slightly higher case capacity than my Tact.20. Ruger's showing about the same velocity in the .204 as I chrono with my Tac, and with that in mind the .204 loaded to the same pressure as the Tac ought'a have maybe 100fps more poop. I get 3,850ish out of my Tac with the 40 Berger so lets say all things being equal we get 3,950 to 4,000ish out of the .204(that's a big maybe cause barrels are different, barrel length etc.). My .223 gets 3,750ish with a 40 grain Blitz-King (it's favorite bullet coincedently) so I'm guessing an .223 Ackley ought to run 3,900ish with the same bullet. My view on all that is with two same weight bullets in two different calibers with approx the same velocity you got a tie. In this case the tie goes to the smaller calliber by virtue of better ballistic coeffecient and better sectional density. Whenever you have two bullets of same weight doing the same speed the smaller caliber's longer for caliber, and there-in lies the advantage. As to just how great the advantage is it would take knowing the coeffecient of both bullets and having actual velocities of both rounds. And as long as I'm guessing and blowing wind I'd also add that to me the advantage of the Ackley .223 would be in heavier bullets than the 40 probably at least 50's, if you load both bullets to max loads the 40 will be faster but the 50 will leave it in the dust out past 275 or so yards. In my opinion the Tactical .20 is at its best whistling 32 to 35 grain bullets out there at 4,250ish on p-dog to rock chuck sized critters maybe coyotes out to about 400 yards, the.223 Ackley (if I had one) I'd see with 50 to 55 grain bullets with about the same application. Reality is there's a bunch of calibers out there that really all do the same thing, how much difference is there really between a .223 Ackley and a .22-250? It's all academic.

The real point is "THEIR ALL GREAT", what a wonderful excuse to get a bunch of rifles!!!